Tag Archives: Battle Report

Old World Battle Report Wood Elves Vs Beastmen

The other day, my friend came over and we had a good old-fashioned brawl with our Old World armies. I brought 2500 points of Wood Elves, and they got 2500 Beastmen.

Conclusion

The game was very close. I think the entire game hinged on turn 3 combat. One crucial item is that I turned to flee with my Wild Riders when charged by the Ghorgon. However, I didn’t flee far enough, and the entire unit was run down and destroyed with not a peep. I also didn’t prioritize my shooting well, and I forgot my hagbane arrows, which did much damage. I also didn’t utilize my forest sprites or my spells effectively. Live and learn.

I was happy with my Glade Guard and Glade Riders. The treekin did ok, and the eagles, I think, are essential to screen troubling units. I would have rather had another unit of the Guard rather than the Sisters of Thorn.

The game mat is by FLG, and the terrain was made by Greenleaf

Beastment

272 – Beastlord, Additional Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Many-limbed Fiend, Gouge-tusks, General, The Black Maul, The Fur of Sharggu
330 – Great Bray-Shaman, Gnarled Hide, Pelt of Midnight, Wizard Level 4, Dark Magic, Scimitar of Skultar, Full Plate Chaos Armour, Horn of the Great Hunt
210 – 10 Bestigor Herds, Stubborn, Veteran, Gouge-horn, Standard Bearer, The Beast Banner, Musician
177 – 15 Gor Herds, Additional Hand Weapon, True-horn, Great Weapon, Scimitar of Skultar, Standard Bearer, Magic Standard, Vitriolic Totem, Musician
177 – 15 Gor Herds, Additional Hand Weapon, True-horn, Great Weapon, Scimitar of Skultar, Standard Bearer, Magic Standard, Vitriolic Totem, Musician
85 – Tuskgor Chariots
77 – 10 Ungor Herds, Shield, Throwing Spear, Half-horn, Standard Bearer, Musician
77 – 12 Ungor Herds, Shortbow, Half-horn, Standard Bearer, Musician
205 – 3 Dragon Ogres, Heavy Armour, Great Weapon, Shartak
100 – Herdstone
329 – 6 Minotaur Herds
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Musician
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Bloodkine, Burning Blade
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Standard Bearer
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon
• 2x Minotaur, Great Weapon
215 – Cygor
245 – Ghorgon

WoodElves

Glade Lord w/ Cav Spear, Forest Dragon, Hail of Doom Arrow449
Spellweaver, Level 4 Wizard, Elven Steed, Heartwood Pendant, Lore of the Wilds214
Treeman Ancient265
Glade Captain, Battle Standard Bearer, Elven Steed113
4×10 Units of Glade Guard with Hagbane Tips130×4 520
10 Glade Guard with Moonfire Shot120
10 Dryads130
5 Glade Riders with Trueflight Arrows95
5 Sisters of Thorn with Handmaiden128
5 Wild Riders with Standard142
4 Tree Kin204
2x Great Eagle2×60 120

Our initial deployment and round 1. Minimal movement and lots of shooting. The Storm giant in the middle of the picture is my vortex spell.

The right flank looked rough, with me facing down the enemy minotaurs and dragon ogres. I was able to kill 2 minotaurs in the first round of shooting.

Round 3 resulted in the Ghorgon taking on the Woodelf Dragon. Unfortunately, the single six that was rolled into another six meant the monster slayer, Ghorgon, killed my general.

Center of the board after the turn 3 onslaught. My wildriders missed their charge.

Turn 5 meant their main lines could finally get to my bladeguard. It wasn’t pretty.

A rather funny image of his final dragon ogre chasing my final sister of the thorn.

DBMM 500 Pts Rome vs Carthage

To give me a break from the Bolt Action / Horus Heresy indoctrination. I put my collection of 15mm ancients to work and set up a game of DBMM.

Conclusions

I forget how balanced DBMM actually is. I am very new to the game and don’t have all the rules down. Especially having to teach myself. But the game was fun, over 3 hours tops, and hinged on critical moments. It gives me the feeling of an actual battle.

Pip allocation is a huge factor. Huge. A bad pip roll will ruin the engagement for you.

Carthage did win. It was a near thing, any given combat failure would have resulted in a different result.

I picked Rome 216-203 BC vs Carthage
After the roll, Carthage was the aggressor.

C and cRegCv (O)Hannibal reg cv15353
Sub generalRegLH (O)Reg LF22550
lybian spearmenRegSp(O)reg sp o18590
numidian calvIrrLH(O)irr lh o8432
merc javelinsRegPs(S)reg ps9327
libyan calvRegCv (O)Reg cv o4832
Bolt shootersRegArt(O)Reg art2816
CampsIrrBge(I)Irr beg144
span merc calvRegLH (O)reg cav o4832
span merc foot caetratiRegPs(S)reg ps248
span merc foot scutarriRegAx(S)reg ax12560
elephantsIrr El (I)81296
QtyPoints500
C and cRegCv(O)Reg cv12828
Sub generalRegCv(O)Reg cv12727
Ally generalRegCv(O)Reg cv11818
roman cavRegCv(O)reg cv5840
roman hastatiRegBd(O)reg bd367252
veletetesRegPs(S)reg ps18354
triariRegSp (S)reg sp9763
greek archersRegPs(O)reg ps2510
artyReg Aty (O)arty188

The Carthage Commands were;

Hannibal- Libyan Cavalry, Numidian Cav
Sub General 1- Spearmen, Elephants, Bolt Shooters, Mercenary Javelins
Sub General 2- Span Mercenary

Rome Commands
C and C- Hastati, Triari
Sub General- Cav and Arty
Ally General, Veletetes and Greek Archers

Set-Up

I played on a 6×4 board with a couple of hills and roads (randomly generated) and a river.

I put the Romans in the triple-axis formation with a skirmish screen. The Cavalry took the right flank.

Carthage was set up with a single skirmisher, two elements of spears, then an elephant the next block over. To their right flank were the cavalry and, in reserve, the Spanish mercenaries.

Bound 1

Carthage had an amazing Pip roll which allowed their forces to push up the field rapidly. The Roman dice were 1, 1 and 2. The cavalry immediately put the Romans under pressure. A deep analysis would reveal the battle was lost on this first bound.

Rome did what it could with their movement. They pushed forward the skirmish screen. Took advantage of the weak left flank on the Carthaginian side with an aggressive cavalry move.

Bound 2

Rome seized the initiative and maneuvered their triari to take on the Carthage Cavalry. Carthage had to use their largest dice to counter the Roman cavalry threat.

Bound 3

The two flanks become a mess. Spanish mercenaries take on the Roman cavalry hoping to delay long enough so the main force can break Roman lines. The Carthage Cavalry nears victory when the triari arrive.

Bound 4

I must have missed the picture… the lines have crashed together, the Carthaginians sweeping away the Roman skirmish screen.

Bound 5

The Spanish mercenaries are holding while the Carthaginian Cavalry attack failed miserably. The Roman lines are on the brink of collapse.

Bound 6

Both sides have lost commands, and the Roman Cavalry and Spanish Mercenaries continue their death grind. The Romans stabilized the line using the left over trari.

Bound 7

Technically, battle was over at this point, Carthage destroyed enough units to win. I kept playing because I was enjoying myself.

A few more images are below of the continuation. I will most likely play another game soon, Greece vs Persia, or maybe 100 years war. We shall see.

Stalingrad Scenario 2 Dawn Crossing Battle Report

My second scenario, Dawn Crossing, was a complete disaster for the Soviets. The first scenario was a near run, and the last throw of the dice was a thrilling encounter. The second was over by turn three. Turn one, I thought the Soviets would do well despite being outgunned 2:1. 60% of German boats were destroyed. Turn two saw tremendous luck, where basically every German artillery unit that could hit did hit. Destroying or pinning essentially every Soviet Unit.

I didn’t particularly like this scenario. The openness on the Soviet side of the board meant there was very little maneuver, and it was just sit and shoot, in this case, get shot. I thought there was a little more depth that could have been added as far as reinforcements.

Final score, six Soviet Units were Destroyed, and 3 Units on the bank for 9 VPs for the Germans. The Soviets had 3 VP.

The Rules Basics

On a 4×4 table, the Germans are attempting to cross a 9″ river. Every unit on the Soviet side of the river gains 1 VP; additionally, every destroyed earns them 1 VP. The Germans get twice as many points as the Soviets. The Soviets should have between 500 and 700. The Soviets could begin the battle dug in and in heavy cover. Germans may start with a preparatory bombardment.

Army Lists

Germans127513 Order Dice
Leutnant50
Heer Veteran Infantry981 Soldier, 1 LMG
Heer Infantry1003 Soldiers, 1 LMG
Artillery Forward Observer100
Heer Pioneer Squad106Vets, 2 Soldiers, 5 SMGs
Panzergrenadier Squad159Regulars, 5 Soldiers, 3 SMGs, 2 LMGs
Heer Pioneer65Veterans
MMG50
MMG50
Heavy Mortar75
Sniper50
Medium Artillery, Howitzer85
Panzer IV B,C,D,E,F175
Sturmboot 39’s (2) 52 (26 Each)Regular
Schlauchboot 3m (3)60 (20 Each)Regular
Soviets63711 Order Dice
Free Rifle Squad011+Banner
2nd Lieutenant421 Attendant Inexperienced
Light Machine Gun Squad50Regular
Veteran Squad1462 Soldiers, NCO SMG, 2 LMGs, 1 Panzerfaust, Tough Fighters
MMG50
HMG70
Anti Tank Rifle30
Medium Mortar35
Zis 3 Divisional Gun80

My Strategy

The Germans deployed first. I wanted all my units to hit the river immediately and force the Soviets to divide their fire. I did use the preparatory bombardment to try and pin some of their Veteran. I wanted to use the mortar, howitzer, and tank to soften their center.

For the Soviets I placed machine guns covering the most dangerous rafts, I used my veteran unit with two LMGs to cover a third boat. I put my two regular units farther back to cover where the Germans might penetrate. I wanted my militia squad to hold their side well. I placed the AT gun where it could cover the opposing tank as it hit the wooded area.

Turn One

The prep bombardment didn’t go well. All the German artillery strikes were misses. The veterans and two machine guns were able to destroy both boats and a raft, leaving only two rafts left. This stranded the German MMGs on the opposing bank. The Soviets inflicted solid casualties.

Turn Two

How quickly a game can turn on a few dice rolls. The German artillery observer did work on the center. The Mortar Hit, the tank approached the tree line, giving the Germans four machine guns to inflict damage and pin markers on the Soviets. Both Veterans could land on the Soviet side of the bank and survive. The other units provided cover fire, pinning most of the Soviets, who took heavy casualties. The reserves tried to move forward and were quickly gunned down as they couldn’t make it to heavy cover.

Turn Three

At this point, the game was basically over. The Germans were inflicting tons of casualties and taking very few. Most Soviet units were hopelessly pinned down. The raft returned to the German side to attempt another pick-up. (It was probably against the rules.) A German Sniper killed the Lieutenant.

Turn Four

More Soviet casualties as they lay in their foxholes. The AT Gun was able to put the German panzer on Fire. More Germans land on the bank.

Turn 5.

I did call the game here. Exactly one unit was able to complete an action, the AT Gun. As a side note, this was the only turn in which the Sniper did not kill anyone.

Constantix II

The Word Bearers convinced Archmagos Delvere of Constantix II to swear fealty to the traitor legions in exchange for forbidden knowledge. Delvere was convinced this would allow his world to ascend to new heights. Perched in the vast Barge City of Leiminota, the Word Bearers enacted their plot. Several smaller Barge Cities resisted, and a call for help rose into the heavens. Primarch Covax and the Raven Guard legion answered the call.

With stunning ferocity, the speartip arrived in Malcaster’s outlying settlement. Malcaster’s purpose was to maintain a small bridge where acid flowed through. The Word Bearers fled, knowing their limited forces must consolidate and draw the Ravens into a protracted siege. The Ravenguard must keep the bridge intact at all costs to speed up the assault.

Praetor Corveran Shixx will lead the speartip. His primary objective is to secure the bridge and destroy as many Word Bearers as possible. He leads his unit of Cataphractii in a deadly dance.

The Word Bearers, led by their Praetor Toradik, the Sonorous Fiend, must preserve as many units as possible for the coming assault. His legion is small, and reinforcements are far away. Drawing the fast-striking Raven Guard into a prolonged siege will lead to great benefit.

Raven GuardWord Bearers
1Praetor Catphractii with Command
Covax		2401Legion Praetor with Command Squad
Sonorous		215
1Centurion, Master of Signals951Contemptor Dreadnought Talon225
2Contemptor Dreadnought 39010Destroyer Assault Squad205
5Mor Deythan Squad1501Mhara gal Dreadnought240
5Mor Deythan Squad with Storm Eagle Gunship3605Veteran Squad with Rhino150
10Terminator Cataphractii32510Veteran Squad225
10Assault Squad14510Despoiler Squad100
10Tactical Squad1005Recon Squad with Storm Eagle344
10Tactical Squad with Rhino13510Tactical Squad with Rhino145
10Tactical Squad with Rhino13510Tactical Squad with Rhino145
2Land Raider Proteus5053Outrider Squadron91
1Basilisk2003Skyhunter Squadron105
1Sicaran2201Land Raider Phobos250
1Basilisk185
3Predators360

Lessons Learned
Terminators and Dreadnoughts are a house. I am excited to play narratively and thematically and add those units to the game. For example, most of the Raven Guard Terminators were destroyed in this assault. There will not be more available until an apothecary can make them.

The punishment for moving heavy weapons is severe. More terrain across the main field would have impacted how I used the tanks. There was no line of sight-blocking terrain across the battle, so the tanks and dreadnoughts just sat and shot at things with very little movement or strategy.

I mis-deployed the Word Bearers infantry. Instead of the flank away from the river, all three units should have deployed near the river to clog the bridgehead.

Rules, rules, rules—there are many rules for the game. It was hard to keep track of them during solo play. I think I could do better once I learned to shoot and keep track.

Smaller games. 3500 was too many points for a 6×4 table like this. 2000 Would have been better. We are at 1250 for the Word Bearers for the next engagement and 2500 for Ravenguard.

The Actual Game

I actually deployed the units twice. I played one round deploying as the scenario said; the Ravenguards were completely wiped off the table. Instead, we selected to deploy 30k style with all units, not in a deep strike on the field. This was my first time using the Horus Heresy rules, so I kept everything as simple as possible. There were no flank attacks.

After the first turn for Ravenguard, very few units were destroyed. I didn’t anticipate the impact that moving heavy weapons would have. Reducing all hits to only on 6’s is a challenge to overcome.

The Word Bearers responded with a general push up the field. I wanted the Rhinos to get in the flank and do some damage. I was still far too unfamiliar with the rules. No model in all 30 tactical squads could dent a land raider. I also learned from my actions with the Ravenguard and kept all the heavy weapons as stationary as possible to maximize shooting.

Round two for the Ravenguard saw something interesting happen. The Sicaran fired on the Land Raider; however, when firing back, the Land Raider scored 3 total hits, once glancing and two penetrating. The penetrating hits did double damage, destroying the Sicaran. A great roll from the raider. However, the gunship single-handedly destroyed the veterans for the Word Bearers. Looking at the image above, you can see them behind the building to the right of the bridge. If you look at the lower image, they are gone. Otherwise, it’s just more heavy weapons shooting and missing.

The Word Bearers focused fire on the terminators crossing the field. Only 3 made it to the Word Bearers lines.

The assault on the bridge is in full swing. You can see the rhino at the bottom of the bridge was pinned by something of the Word Bearers. I think the Dreadnought. A Mor Deythan death squad also made it across the river transported by the gunship.

The Word Bearers used their desolaters to try and push back the tactical marines. They were unsuccessful and lost combat. You can see that Predator and Landraider are now in flames for the word-bearers.

The assault marines finally made it into combat and destroyed the basilisk. The devastators holding the bridge were also destroyed. The Contemptor Dreadnought for the Word Bearers has now been tied up for two shooting phases with the Terminators. We rolled to see if the Desolators could make it in for the Word Bearers. They did, and I decided to call the game. There was just no firepower left for the Word Bearers, as all their units were either in combat or ineffective against the tanks.

I could have charged with the Ravenguard leader and done a challenge here just to try it out. I didn’t.

Units for further expansion

Units that exemplified themselves included all four dreadnoughts, the Ravenguard Tactical Marines that held the bridge, the assault marines that killed the basilisk, and the 30 Tactical marines from the Word Bearers who never entered the battle. Praetor Toradik also bravely charged the Terminators to try and dislodge them from the dreadnought.

Daughters of Khaine Vanguard Battles

The hobby room continues its long, arduous completion process. My desk is ready and fit for work; now, I am just putting items away.

In the meantime, I entered into a Vanguard League. My FLGS saw how many people wanted to try Age of Sigmar, so they created a league. The gist is that everyone purchases a Vanguard box. You get bi-weekly pairings and progress through the various missions. In total, there are eight participants. I have fought two battles thus far.

Final Thoughts on Vanguard

For the battle reports see below. The quick summary is I think Vanguard games are just a little small. They work great as an introduction to the game and really allow new players to use and practice the new abilities, but balance wise they just aren’t quite there. I routinely have command points I can’t use and the many obectives and battle tactics are not achieveable. Unit balance is also off. Some large units while points wise are not out of line, when faced with other options, they are just inferior in every way.

I picked the Daughters of Khaine. I was the last to pick, and I wanted a faction no one else was really talking about. The Vanguard list is below.

1 Mulusai Ironscale with Arcane Tome and Master of Poisons
5 Blood Stalkers or Blood Sisters
10 Witch Alves or Sisters of Slaughter
5 Doomfire Warlocks

My first battle I faced Kolten and his Seraphon. His list is below;

1 Sarus Oldblood on Carnosaur
3 Kroxigor
10 Sarus Warriors

We played the first battleplan, Frontal Assault. I have a decent amount of AOS expierence. My opponent had zero. The game started very slow. Getting the opponent used to Grand Strategy’s and Battle Tactics took a significant amount of time. Once those were arranged I won the roll and elected to go 2nd. I felt like a round 2 double turn on the small table could be decisive.

Kolten advanced up the board, but was unable to get a charge in based on my deployment. My round I used my warlocks and archer to eliminate his entire unit of warriors. I then positioned myself to have the witch aelves charge the oldblood my next turn. I wanted to avoid the Kroxigors at all costs until we met on my terms.
Turn 2 the battle went to shit for me. I did win the double turn, and I threw everything I had at the Oldblood. I should have killed it twice according to mathhammer. Timely rolls, timely saves, I reduced him to exactly one wound with all my units execept the Blood Stalkers engaged with it. His turn he was able to withdraw then charge again, plus got a charge in with his Kroxigors, plus healed the maximum with his heroic ability. My Witch Aelves and Warlocks were elminated. I was able to kill his Oldblood leaving only the Kroxigor, but my Blood Sisters were cornered. At this point he managed to get both of his Battle Tactics and Grand Strategy so I was going to have a tough time coming back on points.
Turn 3 I tried to force my way out. But his unwounded Kroxigors took out my Ironscale. I was left with 3 Blood Stalkers against his 3 Kroxigors.

By turn 5 I had whittled down 1 Kroxigor but he still had two left and I was behind by 4 points. Had I gone second I would have tried to charge my unit into his, but because of the turn structure I would have been tabled going first. I think with shooting and charging I could have gotten him down to 1 Kroxigor, but if I missed I would have been completely tabled.

My second game I went against Eric, he and I have played several times in the past, I never faced his Lumineth.

Same list for me. While his list was:

1 Scinari Cathaller
5 Bladelords
10 Wardens
10 Sentienls

The amount of magic he could must scared me, but I also knew how squishy his army was. We played Burn and Pillage. He placed almost all of his units in a single corner of the field. His archers were kind of out in the middle rather than behind his lines which suprised me.

I was able to take the first turn, and put everything I had into the blade lords. I felt like this was the most dangerous unit on the field to me. They were killed on the With Aelves charge.

I only lost one elf for one of his command abilities and I took out two Wardens as well. In the bottom end of the first he wiped out my aelves using his phalanx and killed a single Warlock. I was able to shoot with my Warlocks and do a couple damage to his Wardens.

I picked off a few of his wardens and took three objectives to his zero. I also completed one battle tactic and elimnated his grand strategy so I felt good about where I was.
Turn three I finished off all but one warden and he eliminated my warlocks. I also killed 2 more sentinels.
Turn four I finished off his commander and wardens and put him down to 5 sentinels. He killed my Ironscale and 2 blood stalkers. To be able to kill my blood stalkers he had to move his sentinels forward, a big moment and what I thought was a mistake. I was also 1 VP behind and handnt completed my grand strategy.
Turn 5, I couldn’t get him off the objective by just shooting, my grand strategy was every unit fights and my stalkers hadn’t. I needed my +1 buff and a roll of 8 to get the charge off. Missed my first roll and used my only command point to try again, got an 8. He killed one of my stalkers on overwatch, but after my round of shooting I had him down to 4 models. The sisters did glorious, he was down to one, I had my two snakes left. They struck, he saved one and missed one tabeling his army and earning me the victory.

Last Bridge Over the River Don

The opening battle in the Stalingrad Campaign is the Last Bridge Over the River Don. The main objective is for the Soviets to hold the bridge while their force retreats and then blow the bridge. Game is on a 6×4 table with a river running north to south. In the middle of the river is a small bridge. Eastern side of the bridge has a small village. Western side has a few hills and balkas.

Soviets can attempt to blow the bridge. The objectives give 2 pts for each soviet unit to cross the bridge, and the Germans get 1 pt for each destroyed unit and 5 if the bridge is intact.

For terrain, I intend to use my Kallistra grass hexes as a base with assorted hills. I have a river from Tabletop World. It should sit nicely down between hexes. The river is 6″ wide, however, and if that doesn’t work, I have a neoprene river set and a few bridges that should work nicely. I need about 10 small buildings for the town where Dwarven Forge City Builder should also fit in nicely. I have 3 or 4 buildings for variety that are a high quality cardboard including a church that will make good variety.

Here is the Soviet T34 on the bridge. This will work well.

The army lists are below. Both lists are 1167. I don’t have a good reason for picking this number.

Germans1167Gates of Stalingrad
Leutnant50Regular
Here infantry905 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
Panzgrenadier975 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
medic30Veteran
artillery forward observer1001 ARRegular
Heer infantry1107 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
heer pioneer771 Rifle 4 SMGSVeteran
mmg50Regular
medium mortar60add spotterRegular
flammenwerfer50Regular
sniper team50Regular
Anti-tank rifle team (removed)Regular
50mm pak 3875Regular
Sdkfz231100Regular
Panzer iii Ausf E,F1402nd MMGRegular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack44Regular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack44Regular
I based the German list on what an advancing army might look like. Mechanized infantry with early war armor support. Decent equipment. I could have made the squad sizes a little larger which would have brought me up to 1500 pts, as well as a few trucks, but this should make for a decent fight. I think the game plays well at 1250 to 1500.

Soviets Don Volga

Rifle Squad012 RiflesInexpierenced
2nd Lieutenant50SMGRegular
Veteran squad853 Rifle 1 LMG 1 LoaderVeteran
Rifle squad568 RiflesInexpierenced
commissar15SMGInexpierenced
assault engineer squad805 SMGsVeteran
rifle squad817 Rifles 1 FlagInexpierenced
rifle squad497 RiflesInexpierenced
veteran squad1034 Rifles 1 LMG 1 PanzerfustVeteran
Mmg35Inexpierenced
Dshk heavy machine gun team49Inexpierenced
Sniper team50Regular
Dog mines26Inexpierenced
Tank hunters20Inexpierenced
Medium mortar35Inexpierenced
Light mortar24Inexpierenced
45mm antitank46Inexpierenced
Ba20 Armoured Car52Inexpierenced
T-34156Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
The soviet list is based on an army in full retreat. Supplies and such were not a huge issue at this point of the war. I was happy to give them full equipment. The soviet army was very experienced at this point as well which I reflected in the list.

Initial Impressions

Reading over the rules, it seems like the Soviets have a real challenge. You have to get as many units over the bridge as possible and still blow the bridge. The initial turn the fuse is lit you have a 1/3 chance of blowing the bridge. The next turn its 50/50 and 2/3 the following turn. You don’t want to blow it early because it costs you points, but you can’t wait till the last turn either. Although the game does continue until the bridge blows or the charges are defused. The way the reinforcements work for the Germans I want the bridge blowing turn 6.

Also I wouldn’t consider this a good introductory scenario for those new to Bolt Action. It is a pretty complicated fight with many rules and deployments.

Hobby Items

First and foremost getting the two forces fully painted. I have about 3 weeks from now util the floors are completed and I have a game room back. That easily should be enough time for 50 odd infantry and a couple vehicles. Right……. right. My Germans are largely complete already. Maybe 10 models. The Soviets need around 40.

I need to paint the river. It shouldn’t take too long. It is nicely textured. I have 10 pieces that are 9″ long and 5″ wide, 8 curves, a large stone bridge that is just wide enough for a t-34. There is also a mill somewhere which would be cool to do eventually. I think there are 4 river battles and it is a terrain feature in 3 more. I may also try the resin thing where I fill the river with resin to create a water effect.

Other hobby items. I will most likely 3d print a building or two. They will need painted. I also need to paint a few hedges that I have 3d printed.

Next time should be some painted models progress, after the weekend.

General De’ Armee Battlereport

3 Corps. 14000 pts. 5 days of battle. Field 6’x12′ using Kallistra Hex items as a base plus their hills and roads and other terrain. I also used Fog of War rules.

This was by far the largest battle I have ever fought solo. I used 6mm figures that I purchased pre-painted. The scenario was simple. The French wanted to cut off the British reserves and seize the nearby road. The French had two minor objectives, securing their own supply chain through the mountain pass and securing a key hill that overlooked two towns.

The British main objective was to keep their reserve lines open. Secondarily, they wanted to halt the advance near the towns. The hill was irrelevant to them as were the towns, they just did not want any further advances. They also wanted to hold a strong line near the supply lines to weaken future French movements.

Below are the French Army Lists. I had to go with screenshots as I did not want to retype everything.

And the British Lists

The initial deployment is below. I wanted the French to really push towards the flanks in a pincer style movement knowing the reserve Corps could begin to arrive turn 10. Below is the initial setup. I like using the hexes as it keeps me from having to measure every freaking attack and can just use the hexes instead.

Turn 3 the action got heavy quickly. Fierce fighting on the flank near the mountains with skirmishers and artillery hammering away. While the far-flank British Cavalry ran into a large unit of French conscripts.

Turn 5 the game turned. British scouts revealed a huge weakness in the french formation, there was essentially no infantry in the center. They moved their largest units to divide the forces and try and break the flank near the mountain pass as this was the weakest and farthest from potential French reinforcements.

By turn 6 it was nerve-wracking as the French elite units were under heavy pressure and began an orderly withdrawal. It didn’t help that turn 3 the British seized the initiative and continued to hold it. The French on the bottom of the picture had eliminated most of the British Cavalry and were pushing hard to seize the entire flank and sector.

Turn 9 the Brits were pushing as many troops to the center as possible. Near the mountains to the top of the picture they were barely holding on and accepting those losses as this could be the end of the invasion. (I switched to a tripod here for more consistent images)

Turn 11. British troops fly up the center road preparing to cut off the French reserves. They are barely holding on to the flanks while their center continues to divide. the French diverted 5 battalions on the top flank towards the center at risk of losing the Mountain pass. The commanders to the bottom continue to fail in their rolls to advance giving the British some respite there.

Here is a close up of some fighting near the mountains. The British have heavy casualties and are on the brink.

Turn 13 the reserves have flown up the middle of the table and engaged in the center.

Turn 15, shit hit the fan. The British rolled 15, 11’s and 12’s to literally shatter the French’s bottom flank and center. I chose to call the game as this point. 12 French battalions left the field to only 1 British. An entire Corps was broken. I saw no way for the French to recover.

Overall Impressions

This was my 10thish time using the General D Armee system. Having a battle of this size the rules were semi cumbersome and I wouldn’t advise trying it yourself. I had a great time though and could feel the full actions. In the future, I will work on creating a ruleset for the use of dragons on the field. Based on the books His Magesties Dragon. Love the books, love Napoleonic wars, I think Dragons could be used in this system. Thanks for reading talk soon.

Hobby Streak 01/17/2023

The hobby streak crashed and burned around Christmas. Coupled with trying to get to level 250 in Call of Duty. I haven’t hobbied much until the last week.

A few things that didn’t get pictures. I finalized a massive structure for the DND Campaign. It was 3d printed, no color has been added yet. I also primed the player models and had our session 0. Crafted most of the story, our first game is set for this upcoming Sunday. I think this is where we will chronicle the party’s efforts. Expect a new page and weekly DND posts.

For the streak, I did hobby on Saturday the 14th and have maintained it since then. My elves are producing models at an alarming rate. I hate building models and have 3 hired hands that assist in their spare time. One is working on my Horus Heresy Collection, one on Star Wars Legion, and one on Flames of War. I will officially own a unit of most Flames of War models across the 5 main European players soon.

I produced a couple random DND monsters. I had an hour or so and sat down with my airbrush, and went to work. I prepared some trees for the terrain. I glued a crap ton of scenery for Marvel Crisis Protocol. I am 100% complete with all MCP except the December and January releases, which felt huge. I can’t wait to begin painting those.

In the next week, you can expect a fully finished dwarven army. I have 45 models left to paint. 25 pikemen, and 20 warriors. The warriors are all primed and will begin being painted this very afternoon. I just printed the pikemen; they need to wash and cure and will be back to work. I also have 10 dnd minis that need to be done. Our 7 PC’s, 2 Velociraptors, and an NPC.

I would upload pictures, but……. fail. Until next week.

Age of Sigmar Battle Report Stormcast vs Seraphon

On December 7th 2022 the Stormcaster Eternals and a ragtag group of angry Seraphon phased off in the epic finally in a battle for guts and everlasting glory.

My opponent was younger maybe 10 and both his parents were in the store as onlookers. Because of his age I did my best to not take any photos of him or to post his name. Here are the opposing army lists. I did garrison my Starseer inside the Realmshaper engine

Seraphon Thunder Lizards2000Stormcast1935
Oldblood on Carnosaur250Krondys550
Skink Starseer145Knght-Vexillor with Banner160
Stegadon with Bolt270Lord-Imperatant175
Stegadon with Bolt270Yndrasta280
Stegadon with Bolt270Vindicators130
Bastiladon with Solar Engine250Annihilators180
Dread Saurian545Evocators230
Realmshaper Engine0Vanguard Raptors with Hurricane230

We rolled for the Burn and Pillage Battleplan. He also won the roll and decided to go first. You can just see our setup below. My third Stegadon is just off-screen on the bottom right. Wow the Dread Saurian is a house.

My opponent started his turn by moving forwards and some light shooting. I don’t even think it did any wounds. I also pushed forwards on my turn, including a charge with the Dread Saurian against Krondys. This was going to be an epic showdown of 2 550 pt models going toe to toe. VPs 5-3

Turn 2 my opponent held the initiative and went first again. I felt that had I had the first turn the game would have finished by turn 3. As it was he cast several spells buffing his Krondys removing wounds and giving him a better save. He also moved to get a few more models into the fight. The other side of the field was tons of shooting going back and forth. I felt that my Stegadons had the advantage here and was content to sit back sending the Carnasaur towards the main fight. I felt that the opponent errored by abandoning and not pillaging the objective behind him. VPs 10-4

Turn 3 was kinda epic. I did win the first turn and proceeded to kill Krondys, my Saurian did not have enough gas in the tank though and ends up falling to his infantry. He also charged with his Yndrasta who died but took a Stegadon with him. He fully abanonded both objectives. I think he realized his path to victory was to table me rather than objective me. VPs 15-6

Turn 4 the table turned again and my opponent took back the first turn. This was big as I planned on burning one objective and putting the game to of reach. Instead he was able to contest both objectives. This would be close. He failed a charge on my bastilidon which would have probably resulted in his victory. The Evocators were able to take down my stegadon on the bottom right. VPs 18-11

I failed to take a picture of the end of turn 5. He was able to charge me and kill my starseer and had the bastilidon down to 2 wounds. I went second and had my bastilidon facing anihilators and the spear guys. I had him withdraw and took the major victory. 18-16

What I learned.

Playing the objective is huge. I don’t know if he would have won had he kept the back objectives, but the game definitely would have been close. I also felt that the game was well balanced. Had he not missed a charge roll, there is no way my models would have survived. I probably should have burned an objective turn three and charged rather than sitting back and waiting. He was able to one shot both stegadons before they had a chance.

Flames of War Battle Report USA vs Soviets

For whatever reason, I have never actually put my Flames of War models to the table. I have 5 armies, fully painted and angry ready for battle, but have never actually played myself. Over the next few weeks there are four battles scheduled so I can teach myself. The rules are vague as to how big of a table to use. How much terrain, deployment areas etc. I am setting up 100 pts on a my standard 8×4 table as such.

I have no idea how much space should be required. I have no idea what is a good list or a competitive list. I have read zero blogs and watched zero Youtube videos. We are going to take an adventure together.

SovietsAmericans
Churchill Guards Heavy Tanks23M4 Sherman Tank Company61
HQ32 HQ M4s7
3 Churchill 6pdr105 M4s18
3 Churchill 6pdr105 M4s18
T-34 Tank Battallion695 M4s18
HQ3Rifle Company39
7 T-34s21HQ 2 SMG Teams2
5 T-70s5Rifles 7 M1s 1 Bazooka 1 HMG8
7 T-34s21Rifles 10 M1s 2 Bazooka9
15 SMG Company+1 Komissar17Rifles 7 M1s 1 Bazooka6
3 82mm Mortar22 81 MM Mortar2
Light Tank Killer Company83 T30 75 MM Assault Guns3
4 45mm Guns84 M1917 HMG3
4 37mm guns6

First movement for the Russians has been made. I only had the Mortars in range of anything, unfortunately I did not have an artillery template.

1 Week later I have an artillery template, plus a few dozen of the other sets of tokens you also need to play. The mortars killed a single set of the M1s. American go. The first few turns took a significant amount of time while I figured out the system. The whole when to save when to to save and other items were perplexing. I have watched several youtube videos and have a better grasp. The Americans did destroy a couple of T34s.

Turn 2 for both teams involved a ton of shooting and numerous tanks destroyed. At this point I think I have the basics of the game figured out. Artillery is very high-powered and can do a ton of damage to infantry. (no kidding) Tanks go up like popcorn making the battles very high-paced. Also any unit that is unsportted is at risk meaning you need well-rounded forces. A horde of infantry may take losses but can generally assault and stop a tank company. For either side I didn’t have much strategy, just kill and learn the rules.

Turn 3 resulted in a ton of damage to the American side. You can see most of the infantry defending the top village were assaulted and destroyed, all but 5 of the shermans were destroyed vs the soviets still having about 12 tanks left. I called the game here. I the soviets just had too much firepower and it would have been a blood bath.

What I learned. This first mission had very little depth aside from lining up units for one side or the other to their best advantage. Table set up is huge and I need to be better. I half hazard through down some hills and other terrain not thinking my next table will be better. I think the game is balanced I wish elevation played a bigger role.